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Opening up memories instead of presents…

You may remember from my last post that my wife recently quit her job. I talked about the excitement that has caused in our home because Mommy finally gets to be mommy. Anyway, we decided that this year we were going to make Christmas more about memories than presents.

We stumbled across a really great deal for season passes to Universal Studios in California and took the plunge. My wife and I were so giddy about seeing their reactions when they opened them up on Christmas that there were 7 distinct occasions I can remember when I almost burst and gave it away. Don’t worry…I remained strong.

Christmas day FINALLY arrived and the unwrapping carnage ensued. Because it was really the only gift we were giving our kids we ended up wrapping up all the things they were going to get anyway, like socks and underwear. Now, you’d think any kid would be disappointed with that on Christmas day, but I’m proud to say our kids handled it with class. They would say things like, “This is great. I have so needed underwear,” or “Oh! I love the feeling of new socks.” I’m sure they were just saying it, but as a parent I was proud of their great attitudes.

Did I mention that we kind of hid their tickets under the Christmas tree skirt? Well we did, so when all the lame clothing presents were opened we “found” the tickets and let them open it. Needless to say, their reactions were priceless. Our family are huge Harry Potter fans and so my oldest two daughters burst into tears of joy. Literally.

So here’s the lesson: Toys break. Batteries will need to be replaced. They will want the newest iDevice in a few months. But a memory is something you just can’t buy. Our family will remember this trip forever. You kids are only getting older. Make memories with them. Seriously, go out right now and make a memory!